THE UNITED STATES LIFE-SAVING SERVICE. 187 



Fig. 6. Lyle Gun. 



rying a twenty-four-pound, elongated projectile, with a maximum 

 range of 473 yards. The Lyle gun, which has superseded these, is of 

 bronze, smooth . bore, weighing 185 pounds, with a cylindrical line- 

 carrying shot weighing seventeen pounds, and a range of 695 yards. 

 The reduction in weight over the lightest previous ordnance is 110 

 pounds, and the increase in range over the old eprouvette is 274 yards. 

 Other advantages of the Lyle gun are its strength, owing to the 

 tenacity and ductility of its material, its freedom from corrosion, and 

 its exemption from the erosive action of gases, there being little wind- 

 age, and from wear by the projectile, this being nearly the length of 

 the bore. The projectile has a shank protruding four inches from the 

 muzzle of the gun, to an eye in which the line is tied a device which 

 prevents the line from being 

 burned off by the ignited 

 gases in firing. The shot- 

 line is made of unbleached 

 linen thread, very closely 

 and smoothly braided, is 

 waterproofed, and has great 

 elasticity, which tends to in- 

 sure it against breaking. The 



lines in use are of varying thicknesses, according to circumstances, 

 ranging from one eighth to three eighths of an inch, and their length 

 varies from 500 to 700 yards. The shot-line is carried in a faking-box 

 a wooden chest with handles for convenience in carrying. There 

 are two or three sizes in use, the dimensions of the largest being about 

 three feet long by one and a half wide, and a foot deep. Connected 

 with it is a frame, a little 

 larger than the box, with a 

 row of wooden pins set ver- 

 tically into its four sides. A 

 false bottom, which is a tab- 

 let of wood pierced with 

 holes corresponding to the 

 pins, is let down over them 

 until it reaches their bases, 

 and rests upon the frame. 

 In disposing the shot-line, 

 the faker begins at the cor- 

 ner, and coils it in successive diagonal loops or fakes over the pins, 

 layer above layer, until the line is completely rove. The box is 

 then let down over the pins, and fastened at each end to the 

 frame. It is now ready for transportation to the scene of a wreck. 

 When brought there, it is turned upside down, disclosing the false 

 bottom, with the frame superimposed upon it. Two men, one at each 

 end of the box, release the fastenings, and, each pressing his foot upon 



Fig, 



7 Method op withdrawing Frame and Pins 

 from Shot-Line in Faking-Box. 



